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June Carter Cash (1929–2003)

June Carter Cash was a country and folk singer and the wife of Johnny Cash. Born in
southwestern Virginia, she was the daughter of Maybelle Carter, who with her first cousin Sara Carter and Carter's
husband, A. P. Carter, performed
with the pioneering country group the Carter Family. June Carter and her two sisters began singing with the group
on the radio in 1939 and later as part of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.
Carter often supplemented her music with large doses of humor, drawing on broad
caricatures of her rural upbringing. Her satirical version of "Baby, It's
Cold Outside," recorded in 1949 with the duo Homer and Jethro, reached No. 9 on
the country chart. The next year Carter joined the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville,
Tennessee, and late in 1961, along with her family, accompanied the country star
Johnny Cash on tour. Although both were married, Cash and Carter soon became
romantically linked and were married in 1968. They won two Grammy Awards for their
performances together: for "Jackson" in 1968 and "If I Were a
Carpenter" in 1970. Both suffered from drug addiction, and while their marriage
and careers suffered at times, they remained together. In 2000, Carter Cash won a
Grammy Award for her second solo album, Press On. She died in
May 2003 and her husband followed in September of that year. MORE...

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Early Years

Valerie June Carter was born in Maces Spring, in Scott County, on June 23, 1929, the middle of three
daughters. Her mother, Maybelle Carter, was a musician. Her father, Ezra J.
"Eck" Carter, worked as a mail clerk for a railroad company, earning enough
money for his family to pursue music. That, in addition to money made from record
sales and radio performances, gave June Carter a relatively comfortable upbringing.
Unlike her future husband Johnny Cash, who came from a poor family, she lived in a
nine-room house that, as she noted in her memoir Among My
Klediments (1979), "hugged the side of Clinch Mountain," in
southwestern Virginia. In her early years, Carter worshipped with Methodists,
Baptists, and members of other churches, but at the age of fourteen she was born
again, a process by which she became an Evangelical Christian. Carter recalled in her
memoir that she "shot up like an arrow, crying, singing, and the fire was all
around me."

Carter's mother played with the Carter Family, a trio formed in 1927 with her
husband's brother, A. P. Carter, and his wife, Maybelle Carter's first
cousin Sara Carter. That summer the Carter Family recorded for the Victor Talking
Machine Company as part of what became known as the Bristol Sessions, on the Virginia-Tennessee
border. By 1930, the group had sold hundreds of thousands of records for Victor and
become nationally known.

Late in 1938 the Carters moved to Del Rio, Texas, performing for an
ultrahigh-frequency radio station that broadcast from Mexico and could be heard
across North America. They continued to play for border radio during winters, moving
to San Antonio the next year. It was at this time that June Carter and her sisters,
Helen and Anita, along with Janette
Carter, the daughter of A. P. and Sara Carter, all joined the group, at
least for radio performances. In addition to dancing and singing, June Carter played
the autoharp and sometimes told jokes. In the autumn of 1942, the family moved to
Charlotte, North Carolina, performing for WBT radio until March 1943, when the Carter
Family trio disbanded.

With Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters

Soon after, June Carter, her parents, and her sisters moved to Richmond. There, the quartet of Mother
Maybelle and the Carter Sisters performed first on WRNL and then on WRVA, sometimes
accompanied by the Virginia Boys: Maybelle Carter's brother Doc Addington and
her cousin Carl McConnell. In 1946, June Carter graduated from John Marshall High
School, in Richmond. The family later moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, and then to
Springfield, Missouri, before landing their first gig at the Grand Ole Opry, in
Nashville, Tennessee, on May 29, 1950.

By her own admission, June Carter's singing voice was not as strong as that of her
sisters. To compensate, she focused on becoming a physical performer and
incorporating humor into the family's act, singing novelty songs, sometimes
portraying a rube-like character called Aunt Polly, and telling jokes that drew on
broad caricatures of her rural upbringing. Carter emphasized humor on the first
recordings she made outside the context of her family's ensemble. In the first
of three sessions with the country duo Homer and Jethro, in June 1949, she sang
"Country Girl" and a satirical version of the popular song "Baby,
It's Cold Outside." The latter was so over-the-top its released title
included the words "With Apologies to Frank Loesser," referring to the
songwriter; still, the song reached No. 9 on the country chart and No. 22 on the pop
chart.

Carter married the country singer Carl Smith on July 9, 1952, and three years later
the couple had a daughter, Rebecca Carlene Smith, who later performed under the name
Carlene Carter. The couple divorced in December 1956, and, with the encouragement of
the director Elia Kazan, Carter moved to New York City with her daughter. While
continuing to sing on weekends with her mother and sisters in Nashville, she studied
acting with Lee Strasberg. In 1957 Carter appeared in one episode of the television
series Gunsmoke and two episodes of The
Adventures of Jim Bowie.

On November 11, 1957, Carter married Edwin "Rip" Nix, a Nashville native
who had played college football and was an inventor, construction company owner,
speed-boat racer, and sheriff's deputy. The couple's only child, Rozanna
Lea Nix, was born on July 13, 1958.

During the 1950s, June Carter met and performed with many of the most important names
in American music, including Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Elvis Presley. Patsy
Cline introduced her to amphetamines, and Carter battled drug addiction for much of
the rest of her adult life. In the meantime, she continued to appear with her mother
and sisters and record songs on her own. In February 1953, she recorded "Juke
Box Blues," which she wrote on her own, and "No Swallerin'
Place," which she wrote with Frank Loesser. In 1962, she and her distant cousin
Merle Kilgore wrote "(Love's) Ring of Fire," which Anita Carter
recorded in 1962. Johnny Cash's version, released in 1963 and featuring mariachi
horns, a faster tempo, and a shorter title, proved far more popular, reaching No. 1
on the country chart.

With Johnny Cash

In December 1961, Johnny Cash, then one of the biggest names in country music,
invited June Carter, her mother, and her sisters to tour with him. Cash was addicted
to amphetamines, and Carter spent much of the tour protecting him from himself. When,
in 1964, she and Cash released a single of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me,
Babe," the two were romantically involved.

Carter and Nix divorced in 1966, Cash and his wife, Vivian Liberto Cash, late in
1967. That same year, Carter and Cash released "Jackson," which rose to No.
2 on the country chart and in 1968 won a Grammy Award from the National Academy of
Recording Arts and Sciences for Best Country and Western Performance Duet, Trio, or
Group. Carter, her mother, and her sisters continued to tour with Cash, who on
February 22, 1968, proposed marriage to Carter onstage at an Ontario, Canada, hockey
arena. The couple married a week later, on March 1, 1968, at the First Methodist
Church in Franklin, Kentucky. They had one child, John Carter Cash, born in 1970.

By 1969, Johnny Cash was the biggest artist in country music, and his new wife
accompanied him everywhere. She appeared on his album At Folsom
Prison, recorded live on January 13, 1968, and its follow-up, At San Quentin, recorded on February 24, 1969. She appeared
regularly on the television variety program The Johnny Cash
Show, which ran from June 1969 until March 1971. In 1970, the couple won a
second Grammy Award for "If I Were a Carpenter," which peaked at No. 2 on
the country chart.

In 1975, Carter Cash released her first solo album, Appalachian
Pride, which was neither a critical nor a commercial success. In 1979 her
first memoir, Among My Klediments, was published.
("Klediments" is an Appalachian word for mementos.) The book presents an
upbeat version of her life story that emphasizes her Christian faith and her belief
that the key to happiness is for a women to put "God first, husband second, and
children next."

At the time, Carter Cash's marriage was in enough trouble that she asked for
divorce papers to be drawn up. The couple reconciled, however, even as Johnny
Cash's career began to flag and he continued to struggle with drug
addiction.

Later Years

In 1987, Carter Cash published a second memoir, From the
Heart, this one much darker in tone than its predecessor. It described the death
of Patsy Cline and the burglary of a Cash mansion in Jamaica in 1980 in which three
armed men stole money and jewelry while the family was held hostage. Like her
husband, she also continued to be addicted to drugs; in 1993 she passed out in her
dressing room at a theater in Branson, Missouri, where the Cashes regularly played to
small crowds. In 1994, Johnny Cash's career rebounded with the first of a series
of critically acclaimed records for the producer Rick Rubin, and in 1999, Carter Cash
released a second solo album, Press On, which won a Grammy
Award in 2000 for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at Baptist Hospital, in Nashville, a few weeks
after suffering a coronary arrest and slipping into a coma. She was buried on May 18
at Hendersonville Memory Gardens, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Johnny Cash died on
September 12. Carter Cash's son, John Carter Cash, produced and released her
posthumous solo album, Wildwood Flower, in 2003. Two years
later, the feature film Walk the Line, starring Joaquin
Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, was released. It told the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
and won five Oscar nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
in 2006.

Time Line

August 1–2, 1927
- The Carter Family records six tracks for the Victor Talking Machine Company, in Bristol, part of what becomes known as the Bristol Sessions.

June 23, 1929
- June Carter is born in Maces Spring, in Scott County, the daughter of Ezra J. Carter and Maybelle Addington Carter.

1930
- By this year, the Carter Family has sold hundreds of thousands of records for the Victor Talking Machine Company and become nationally known.

October 15, 1936
- A. P. Carter and Sara Carter divorce but continue performing together in the Carter Family. Their three children remain with A. P. Carter.

Late 1938
- The Carter Family moves to Del Rio, Texas, spending the winter performing for an ultrahigh-frequency radio station that broadcasts from across the border in Mexico and can be heard across North America.

Winter 1939–1940
- The Carter Family lives in San Antonio, Texas, performing for a border radio station. June Carter, her sisters Helen and Anita, and their cousin Janette all join the family act.

October 14, 1941
- The Carter Family makes its final recording as a trio in RCA Victor's New York studio.

Autumn 1942
- The Carter Family moves to Charlotte, North Carolina, to perform for WBT radio.

1943–1948
- Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters perform first on WRNL and then on WRVA, in Richmond.

March 1943
- The Carter Family's contract with WBT radio in Charlotte, North Carolina, ends, and the musical act disbands.

1946
- June Carter graduates from John Marshall High School, in Richmond.

June 1949
- June Carter records "Country Girl" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Homer and Jethro in New York City for RCA Victor.

Autumn 1949
- June Carter and her family move to Springfield, Missouri, and perform on KWTO.

May 29, 1950
- Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters perform for the first time at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

July 9, 1952
- Carl Smith and June Carter marry. They will have one daughter.

September 26, 1955
- Rebecca Carlene Smith is born, the daughter of Carl Smith and June Carter. She will grow up to perform country music under the name Carlene Carter.

December 1956
- Carl Smith and June Carter divorce. Soon after, Carter and the couple's daughter move from Nashville, Tennessee, to New York City.

November 11, 1957
- Edwin "Rip" Nix and June Carter are married. They will have one daughter.

December 1961
- Johnny Cash invites Maybelle Carter and her three daughters to tour with him.

1962
- June Carter and Merle Kilgore write "(Love's) Ring of Fire," a song that Johnny Cash will take to No. 1 on the country chart the next year.

April 19, 1963
- Johnny Cash releases the single "Ring of Fire," written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore. The song goes to No. 1 on the country charts.

1966
- Edwin "Rip" Nix and June Carter are divorced.

February 1967
- Johnny Cash and June Carter release "Jackson," a song that will rise to No. 2 on the country chart.

1968
- Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash receive a Grammy Award for their recording of "Jackson."

February 22, 1968
- Johnny Cash proposes onstage to June Carter at a concert in London, Ontario, Canada.

March 1, 1968
- Johnny Cash and June Carter marry in Franklin, Kentucky. They will have one son.

June 1969–March 1971
- The ABC television variety program The Johnny Cash Show runs for two seasons and regularly features Maybelle Carter and her daughters.

1970
- Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash win a second Grammy Award for their recording of "If I Were a Carpenter."

1975
- June Carter Cash releases her first solo album, Appalachian Pride. It is neither a critical nor a commercial success.

1979
- June Carter Cash's first memoir, Among My Klediments, is published.

1987
- June Carter Cash publishes a second memoir, From the Heart.

1999
- June Carter Cash releases a second solo album, Press On, which will win a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.

May 15, 2003
- June Carter Cash dies on May 15, 2003, at Baptist Hospital, in Nashville, Tennessee.

May 18, 2003
- June Carter Cash is buried at Hendersonville Memory Gardens, in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

2003
- Wildwood Flower, a posthumous solo album by June Carter Cash, is released.

2005
- The film Walk the Line, the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, is released. It will be nominated for five Oscars.